Archer&#39;s finger protection device

ABSTRACT

A finger-protection device for archery with a single stall ( 14 ) surrounding a plurality of fingers on the same side of the arrow nock ( 20 ), and a stall surrounding a single finger ( 13 ), or a plurality of contiguous fingers on the opposite side of the nock as may be applicable to an archer&#39;s style of grip. This combined stall provides more consistent release and reduces finger pinch compared to gloves with plural stalls for contiguous fingers. The device, worn like a glove, provides more convenience and protection than finger tabs. Thus archers can enjoy, in a single device, the convenience and protection associated with a glove, enhanced comfort, and the accurate, consistent release associated with a finger tab.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application 61/157,924 filed on Mar. 6, 2009 by the present inventor.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

None.

SEQUENCE LISTING

None

BACKGROUND

1. Field

This invention relates to archery, specifically to an improved means of bowstring finger protection.

2. Prior Art

When shooting a bow and arrow in archery, many factors affect the accuracy and consistency of shots. The release of the bowstring is a most critical factor. In recent years, the use of mechanical releases or release aids has increased substantially among archers and bowhunters. Numerous mechanical release-related US patents exist, including: U.S. Pat. No. 7,654,254 (2010) to Rentz, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,431 (2002) to Summers; U.S. Pat. No. 4,160,437 (1979) to Fletcher; U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,659 (1984) to Troncoso; U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,594 (1983) to Todd; U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,754 (1994) to Pittman, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,284,546 (2007) to Maki, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,461,852 (1969) to Brothers; U.S. Pat. No. 2,084,634 (1934) to Fleury; U.S. Pat. No. 1,542,159 (1925) to Maxwell; and U.S. Pat. No. 228,302 (1880) to Beard.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,072,115 (1963) to Johnson and 3,028,852 (1962) to Sutton offer devices for “pinch” grip archery.

However, many archers use and prefer the traditional finger release. Further, many competitive archery events do not allow the use of mechanical release aids. There are several styles of finger release archery, the most common referred to as “Mediterranean” grip. In Mediterranean grip, the index finger grips the bowstring above the arrow nock, and the middle and ring finger grip the bowstring below the nock, then draw the bowstring. Adult archery bows may have draw weights ranging from 30 pounds at 28 inches (full draw), to upwards of 60 pounds or more at full draw. Archers using finger release need protection from blunt force and abrasion due to the energy that the bow transfers to the arrow via the bowstring, whether using a compound bow, recurve bow, or longbow. Gloves or finger tabs have historically provided protection for finger release archers. Each method has benefits and drawbacks.

Gloves are more convenient and offer more protection. That is, an archer can keep a glove on while performing other tasks, and the glove covers the draw fingers more completely than a tab, since at a minimum, it surrounds the entire finger from the second knuckle to the tip. A major limitation of the traditional archery glove, however, is that is more difficult to obtain consistent, accurate bowstring release. With Mediterranean grip, the archer may spoil the release by having an inconsistently positioned ring finger. In a glove, multiple fingers on the same side of the arrow nock present multiple surfaces against the bowstring. Multiple surfaces offer multiple opportunities for errors and inconsistencies.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,374,416, (2000) to Baranauskas, presents a different means for securing finger stalls using a fastening strap around the fingers. U.S. Pat. No. 2,555,203 (1951) to Ramsey provides a plural-stall archery glove intended to keep the archer's fingers warm. U.S. Pat. No. 2,740,968 (1956) to Gardocki places buckles on the back of each finger to adjust fit. U.S. Pat. No. 2,769,179 (1956) to Love uses a multiple stalls and attempts to correct differential pressure on the middle finger during the draw. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,985,885 (1961) Layer uses a three-stall design to ease the break-in period of conventional leather. Price's glove, U.S. Pat. No. 3,262,126 (1966), is designed to transfer some of the bowstring load to the archer's wrist. All of these cited patents utilize three-stall construction, and necessarily suffer from the accuracy/consistency limitations of using one stall per finger.

Finger tabs offer a more consistent release, and commonly appear in competition archery. The finger tab provides a single surface against the bowstring on each side of the nock, with a cutout going around the arrow nock. Finger tabs generally attach to the archer's hand by a loop or hole for the middle finger. In Mediterranean grip, the middle and ring finger grip the bowstring below the nock together, with the lower flap of the tab against the string, and the index finger gripping above, protected by the upper flap. This provides greater consistency because there are just two surfaces against the bowstring, rather than three with the traditional archery glove. Finger tabs, however, must be removed or repositioned when the archer needs to perform other tasks involving the hand drawing the string. Also, the archer may place or move a finger too close to the edge of the tab, and when releasing, scrape the finger against the bowstring, resulting in injury.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,095 (1992) to D′Amato shows a tab constructed of a single piece of material. U.S. Pat. No. 4,620,524 (1986) to Saunders adds an adjustable member to a tab device with the goal of increased consistency. U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,458 (1989) to Young is a tab with a grooved surface. Vance U.S. Pat. No. 3,004,532 (1961) and U.S. Pat. No. 2,996,059 (1961) attaches a tab with a wrist strap. U.S. Pat. No. 3,608,090 (1971) to Wilson et al. is a typical tab device. U.S. Pat. No. 2,834,018 (1958) to Farmes adds a finger separator to a tab. U.S. Pat. No. 2,929,372 (1960) to Vance uses a wrist-attached fulcrumed tab. Each of these variations of finger tab lack the comfort, protection, and convenience of the archer's glove.

In conclusion, there has not previously been an effective method of protecting the archer's fingers that encompasses the respective benefits of both gloves and tabs, and mitigates the respective disadvantages of each.

SUMMARY

An improved archery finger protection device, has a combined stall for contiguous drawing fingers on one side of the arrow nock, and another stall for single or contiguous fingers on the opposite side of the nock, as may apply to an individual archer's style of grip. This improved device encompasses the benefits of both archery glove and archery tab finger protection.

Compared to previous archery gloves, which provide a plurality of finger stalls for a plurality of fingers, a combined finger stall provides both greater accuracy and more comfort. This combined stall provides a single contact surface on the side of an arrow nock where a plurality of contiguous fingers draw the bowstring. By reducing multiple contact surfaces to a single, smooth surface, more consistent release occurs than when using the traditional archery glove. Another advantage of the single, combined stall over plural stalls is the reduction of the width of the contiguous fingers on an axis parallel to the bowstring. A plural-stall glove has two thicknesses of material between contiguous fingers, and is necessarily bulkier by those same two thicknesses, though that extra bulk offers no additional protection from the bowstring. An archer with a long draw length, or using a shorter bow, creates a more acute angle where the bowstring meets the fingers. This results in a phenomenon known in archery as “finger pinch”, which is both uncomfortable and interferes with an accurate, consistent draw and release. Reducing the overall width of the contiguous drawing fingers reduces finger pinch, and increases comfort and accuracy.

Compared to finger tabs, a combined finger stall provides greater convenience and increased protection for the archer's fingers without sacrificing accuracy. Finger stalls cover the archer's fingers more completely than a tab, reducing the chance of the bowstring abrading an archer's finger too near the edge of the tab. Finger tabs are awkward to wear. When the tab is not between the archer's fingers and the bowstring, the tab flaps freely, and interferes with the use of the hand. Most archers grip the bowstring with their dominant hand, which is usually the same side as the dominant eye. Having a finger tab flapping on the fingers is awkward and inconvenient. Having to remove or reposition the tab when not shooting is inconvenient as well.

An improved finger-protection device for archery means that archers can have the convenience and protection usually associated with a glove plus improved comfort, as well as the accuracy and consistency associated with a finger tab.

DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an archery device constructed with a stall surrounding the index finger and a stall surrounding both middle and ring fingers, viewed from the palm side of the hand.

FIG. 2 shows the device viewed from the back of the hand.

FIG. 3 shows an archer's hand wearing the device, and drawing a bowstring with “Mediterranean” grip, viewed from the perspective of the archer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a palm side view of a finger protection device constructed according to the invention, in an open-palm style of glove manufacture. The assembly 11 fits on the archer's hand 12, and secures in place with a wrist strap 15. The single finger stall 13 encloses the archer's index finger similarly to previous styles and designs of open palm archery glove. The combined finger stall 14 encloses both the middle and ring finger of the archer's hand. Other styles of glove construction may be used with the same invention. For example, a full-palm style glove, which some archers prefer, would offer the same benefits as the protoype shown in these drawings. Still other constructions, new or current, may incorporate the combined finger stall of this invention.

FIG. 2 shows a back-of-hand view of the device. Construction details are most visible in this figure. The finger stalls 13 and 14 are a thick, smooth-finished leather, stitched 17 to the glove back 16, which is a thinner, soft glove leather. One end of the leather wrist strap 21 is stitched, along with the hook portion of hook-and-loop fastener, to the back near the wrist, at an angle that allows the leather strap to follow the curve of the archer's wrist. The free end of the wrist strap 22 wraps around the archer's wrist, and returns to the back 16, where it secures in place with the loop portion of hook-and-loop fastener 18, stitched 17 to the underside of the strap. Materials may be leather, as in this prototype, or other natural or synthetic materials with suitable strength, flexibility, and abrasion resistance. The wrist strap may fasten with hook-and-loop, or any another manner, e.g. a buckle, that allows the archer to adjust the fit. Materials may be stitched, as shown, or secured by another suitable means for materials used, e.g. adhesive or thermal bonding.

FIG. 3 shows the operation of the archer's finger protection device, as would be seen by the archer drawing the bowstring. The assembly 11 is on the archer's hand 12 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The archer grips the bowstring 19 using “Mediterranean” grip. The archer's index finger, in the single finger stall 13, grips above the arrow nock 20. The archer's contiguous middle and ring fingers, protected in the combined stall 14, grip the bowstring below the arrow nock. The wrist strap 15 keeps the assembly in place before, during, and after drawing and releasing the bowstring. Note that the fingers in combined stall 14 present a narrower, less bulky surface against the bowstring than in conventional plural-stall archery gloves. The combined stall seen here gives a single surface for multiple fingers, and protects the fingers more completely than a conventional archery tab. Other styles of finger grip can use the innovation of the combined finger stall. Some archers prefer to draw the bowstring with two fingers below the nock, as an example. The device can be constructed for archers using this “two fingers below” with only a combined stall for the index and middle fingers, and would offer the same benefits as for an archer using Mediterranean grip.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   -   11 assembly     -   12 hand     -   13 single finger stall enclosing index finger     -   14 combined finger stall enclosing middle and ring fingers     -   15 wrist strap     -   16 back     -   17 stitching     -   18 hook-and-loop fastener on underside of strap     -   19 bowstring     -   20 arrow nock     -   21 fixed end of wrist strap     -   22 free end of wrist strap

Operation

During the draw and release process, the archer contacts the bow only at the handle and the bowstring. At the handle, the force of the draw disperses over the larger area of the handle, and there is little to no abrasion hazard presented by the handle. At the bowstring, the entire power of the bow and arrow system contacts the archer's fingers over an area roughly equal to the diameter of the bowstring, times the combined palm-surface breadth of the drawing fingers. This area is no more than 0.25 square inches for most archers. With a bow having a draw weight of 45 pounds at AMO Standard 28 inches, the pressure on the archer's drawing fingers would approximate 180 pounds per square inch. Heavier bows, which are common, often have draw weights approaching 60 pounds and more. A 60 pound draw could exert a pressure of 240 pounds per square inch on the archer's fingers. Even a modest 30 pound bow may create finger pressures of 120 pounds per square inch. Holding this pressure while aiming at full draw, then releasing the bowstring, exerts tremendous strain on the archer's fingers, particularly the finger surface in contact with the bowstring. The force and rapid acceleration of the released bowstring can injure any unprotected or ill-protected area.

In operation, the archer uses the improved finger-protection device in the same manner as a traditional archery glove or tab, and as described in the Detailed Description of FIG. 3. The archer holds the bow and nocks the arrow to the bowstring. Gripping the bowstring with the finger protection device, the archer extends the arm holding the bow, then draws the bowstring to full draw at the archer's face. When set and aimed, the archer then relaxes fingers of the drawing hand and releases the bowstring. The energy stored in the flexed limbs of the bow transmits through the bowstring to the arrow at the nock, driving the arrow forward and out of the bow. The innovative design characteristics in this improved finger-protection device provide the following unique combination of benefits:

(1) More complete protection of fingers than a tab, via finger stalls 13 and 14.

(2) More convenient than a tab.

(3) More comfort than an ordinary glove due to reduced finger pinch.

(4) More accurate, consistent release than a plural-stall glove. 

1. A finger-protection device for archery, comprising:
 1. a single stall surrounding a plurality of contiguous fingers gripping a bowstring on the same side of an arrow nock, and as applicable,
 2. a single stall surrounding a single finger, or a plurality of contiguous fingers on the opposite side of said nock as may be applicable to an archer's style of gripping said bowstring whereby said stall or stalls protect said fingers from injury due to force of said bowstring. 